June 11, 2014

Analyst Hasni Abidi: Maliki Wanted Mosul To Fall So As To Consolidate Power During A National Crisis

euronews: “Maliki has demanded more power but what are his options for solving the crisis? Can he survive?”

Abidi (political analyst and director of the Geneva-based Study and Research Centre for the Arab and Mediterranean World): “What has happened in Mosul actually helps Maliki. With this,
he can get a full go-ahead from the Iraqi parliament. He benefits from
this. I don’t think that the fall of Mosul happened completely
innocently. It serves the political interests for a Maliki government
and his political backers.”

This is the most plausible explanation for the swift takeover of Mosul by what are really gangs of criminals, thieves, and fanatics. Iraqi soldiers in Mosul said their superiors gave them no orders, so they were left out in the cold and forced to fend for themselves. Maliki looked the other away because he needed this crisis badly.

But in his weekly televised address in Baghdad on Wednesday, Maliki shifted the blamed for the collapse of the army and the fall of Mosul elsewhere. This is just another reason why he is not a good leader. Watch the video below.